James Welch (writer)

James Welch
James Welch in 2000 after being knighted and awarded an honorary medal by France
Born	(1940-11-18)November 18, 1940 Browning, Montana
Died	Missoula, Montana
Occupation	Author, educator
Nationality	Blackfoot
Genre	Fiction
Literary movement	Native American Renaissance
Notable works	Winter in the Blood (1974) Fools Crow (1986)

James Welch (November 18, 1940 – August 4, 2003), who grew up within the Blackfeet and A'aninin cultures of his parents, was an award-winning Native American novelist and poet, considered a founding author of the Native American Renaissance. His novel Fools Crow (1986) received several national literary awards.

In 1997 Welch received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Native Writers' Circle of the Americas.

Biography

James Welch was born in Browning, Montana on November 18, 1940. His father was a member of the Blackfeet tribe and his mother a member of the Gros Ventre tribe; both also had Irish ancestry but had grown up within Native American cultures. As a child, Welch attended schools on the Blackfeet and Fort Belknap reservations.

For college, Welch attended the University of Montana, where he studied under the poet Richard Hugo. He began his writing career, publishing poetry and fiction. His novels established his place in the Native American Renaissance literary movement. Welch also taught at the university.

Welch also briefly attended Northern Montana College (now known as Montana State University-Northern). He taught English and writing at the University of Washington and at Cornell University.

In her introduction to the 2007 reprint of Winter in the Blood, fellow writer Louise Erdrich said: It "is a central and inspiring text to a generation of western regional and Native American writers, including me." This novel was adapted as a film by the same name, released in 2012 and produced by Sherman Alexie.

In addition to his novels, Welch co-wrote with Paul Stekler the screenplay for Last Stand at Little Bighorn, the Emmy Award-winning documentary that was part of the American Experience, shown on PBS. Together they also wrote the history, Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians (1994).

Welch served on the Board of Directors of the Newberry Library D'Arcy McNickle Center in Chicago.

In addition to his literary work, Welch served on the Parole Board of the Montana Prisons Systems, reviewing records of prisoners to determine if their sentences can be shortened.

Welch died at his home in Missoula, Montana in 2003.

Accolades

• American Book Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Pacific Northwest Book Award. Fools Crow (1986)
• Emmy Award. Last Stand at Little Bighorn. Documentary.
• Native Writers' Circle of the Americas Lifetime Achievement Award (1997)
• Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture (2000)

Publications

Novels

• Winter in the Blood (1974)
• The Death of Jim Loney (1979)
• Fools Crow (1986)
• The Indian Lawyer (1990)
• The Heartsong of Charging Elk (2000)

Nonfiction

• Killing Custer: The Battle of Little Bighorn and the Fate of the Plains Indians (1994)

Poetry

• Riding the Earthboy 40 (1971 rpt. 1975)
• Last Stand at Little Bighorn
• Christmas Comes to Moccasin Flat

See also

• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas
• Native American Studies

Further reading

• Wild, Peter (1983). James Welch. Boise, Idaho: Boise State University "Western Writers Series" (#57). pp. 49. ISBN 978-0884300311 OCLC 10086364

External links

• Bibliographical essay on Welch, Dancing Badger
• James Welch quotes